


The Moon, the Stars, and the Sky

by Rynling



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Genre: Breath of the Wild Story Elements, F/M, Scientist Zelda, Space Age AU, Spirit Tracks Future AU, Zelink Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 11:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20759528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rynling/pseuds/Rynling
Summary: In the distant future, an engineer prepares to launch a young astronaut on his first voyage. The technology of Hyrule may have advanced, but some things will never change.





	The Moon, the Stars, and the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Zelink Week 2019](https://zelink-shrine.tumblr.com/post/186351264346/zelink-week-2019-has-been-rescheduled-to-september) on Tumblr!

Trains were one of New Hyrule’s greatest accomplishments, but the kingdom’s engineers were not content to limit their talents to the straight lines of rails laid into the earth. Trains led to cars, and cars led to planes, and planes led to rockets. In each of these eras there was a princess, but the kingdom was at peace, and the time of heroes had long since passed.

Even though she knew it was childish, Zelda dreamed of having an appointed knight to accompany her on her journeys through the world. There was a legend that a powerful curse had once been laid on her bloodline, a lingering malice that would follow her family through generations. She had better things to do than concern herself with the supernatural, however. There were things she feared, of course – software glitches, equipment malfunctions, calculations not completed to a sufficient degree of accuracy. When sending a manned vessel to space, even the slightest error on her part could mean failure. It was foolish to waste time on childish fantasies of the past, but she couldn’t help wishing that she had a hero of her own, someone bound to her by a destiny that transcended time and space.

Oddly enough, the name of the pilot who would man the craft Zelda was in charge of rendering spaceworthy was Link. A common name, to be sure, but one that carried a curious emotional resonance. She was continually reminding herself that she wasn’t the sort of person who believed in fate, but the attraction she felt for him was like something from one of the old romances. Not that she would ever tell him, of course. She would supervise his mission from the sleek and shining headquarters of New Hyrule’s space exploration program as he flew farther away from her with each passing second.

She did her best to keep a professional distance, which was what the privilege of her high rank and station demanded. Despite her best efforts to remain impersonal, however, Link was such a careful listener that she sometimes found herself saying more than she intended.

He rarely spoke, but one day he happened to mention an old set of star charts that had been passed down through his family. Zelda was surprised by this information, which he offered seemingly at random as he watched her make several adjustments to the command module’s solar positioning system.

“Star charts?” she repeated, at a loss for how to respond. She wanted to ask him more about himself and his family, but she was unsure if it would be appropriate.

“That’s right, back from when people still navigated from the deck of a ship,” he explained. “It’s funny; I used to study them as a kid, but I never thought they’d be useful.”

“At least they _are_ useful for something,” Zelda replied. “My family used to believe in astrology, which obviously never did the slightest modicum of good for anyone. It’s a little embarrassing to admit this, but even now my father takes prophesies made more than a hundred years ago very seriously.”

“There’s no reason not to, if that’s what helps him make decisions,” Link offered.

“I wonder.” Seeing that the update had finished installing, Zelda removed her flash drive from the console and typed in the series of passwords that would allow the terminal to restart itself.

“That’s actually why I decided to become an engineer,” she said softly, careful to avoid looking at Link. She pretended to watch the chains of numbers sliding across the screen as she continued. “There’s a prophecy that there will to be a great calamity in our own time, and that it will come from the stars. It’s quite specific about an ancient evil lurking in a forgotten satellite that the ancestors of our ancestors once sent to the sky. But that’s silly, isn’t it?”

“There’s always a grain of truth in legends. And there’s no harm in being prepared, is there? If the prophecy is true, I promise to protect you.” Link’s voice was unusually serious, and Zelda could feel herself blushing.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to do much from so far away.”

“But I’ll come back. You’ll wait for me, won’t you?”

“If the world ends? I suppose I’ll have to.”

“I once heard a story about a princess who waited a hundred years for her hero to appear.”

“That sounds awfully boring,” Zelda said as she tapped a few keys to put the newly restarted system into stasis. “I guess I can wait a hundred years. It might even be something of a tradition in my family.” She smiled and allowed herself to meet Link’s eyes. “But don’t be late.”


End file.
